SinkholeOdds

Sinkhole risk in Monroe County, WI: Pockets of it

Pockets of it

Soluble rock at the surface or under thin cover in part of the county.

On soluble rock
16%
At or near the surface
16%
Buried under cover
0%

What this means before you buy

Check the parcel against your state survey sinkhole map, and ask for an inspection if cracks, depressions or sticking doors show up.

That works out to roughly 142 of Monroe County's 901 square miles on soluble rock, 142 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 46,370 residents (51 per square mile), much of the land is open, and the mapped rock may sit far from where people actually live. The figures come from 373 map points about 1.6 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Read next: the signs to look for and how an inspection works, and how these percentages are measured.

Counties around Monroe County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Vernon County, WI, about 26 miles southwest, close enough that the same rock may run under the county line. 2 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

Which formation it is

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Prairie du Chien Group (shale), Lower Ordovician in age, covering about 16% of the county.

Against the rest of Wisconsin

Monroe County ranks 14 of 72 in Wisconsin for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 72% of US counties on that measure.